An essay on good manners

The poem contains two examples of mead-halls: Hrothgar’s
great hall of Heorot, in Denmark, and Hygelac’s hall in Geatland.
Both function as important cultural institutions that provide light
and warmth, food and drink, and singing and revelry. Historically,
the mead-hall represented a safe haven for warriors returning from
battle, a small zone of refuge within a dangerous and precarious
external world that continuously offered the threat of attack by neighboring
peoples. The mead-hall was also a place of community, where traditions
were preserved, loyalty was rewarded, and, perhaps most important,
stories were told and reputations were spread.